Roadtrip Rehash--Part 2

As we drove from North Carolina to DC, I started to feel a gratefulness rising in my chest to be an American.

There are so many things I take for granted.

Like the freedom to travel about the country.

And when we travel, the freedom to bring everything we could possibly need.

We can pare it down to the bare necessities when we backpack through the forest.

But when we don't have to carry it on our bodies, we bring it all, baby.

 Much bawling ensued when these faces had to be washed before bedtime.

Seriously.  How is this eyelash situation equitable?

 
We visited the capitol building.  Such history.  Such stories.  Such a privilege to learn about both.

We are big Abe Lincoln fans; Matthew was named for him (Matthew Lincoln).

I was so shocked that my texts went through on the subway!  Verizon...can you hear me now?  Thank you!

We LOVE the Smithsonian museums!  Timothy is captivated by bugs...so this giant fellow was a real treat.

Chris, trying to keep morale high as we all approach the Point of Major Meltdowns due to extreme heat and nonstop activities. 

Photo by Timothy:  the handsome, cheerful face the boys and I get to look at each day.  I'm pretty crazy about this guy.

We had a great view of the Independence Day parade on Constitution Avenue. We later learned that it was the hottest July 4th on record for D.C.  So glad we could be part of that historical moment.  :/

Chris is a man of intense preparation and forethought:  he brought stools for us to stand on in case anyone in front of us blocked our view (they did).  And huge golf umbrellas to block the intense heat of the sun.

Happy 236th Birthday, America.  

Next up:  staking out a place to view the fireworks!  We picked a pretty great spot,

set up all of our stuff, befriended the family next to us to keep an eye on it for an hour, and then...

went to watch a 3D Imax movie!  

The fireworks were by far the coolest I've ever seen. 

But the crowd of many hundreds of thousands of people:  not so cool.  When the display was over we walked about 3 miles back to our hotel (no use even attempting the metro...everything was packed.)  Thankfully we had the boys in the jogging stroller and didn't have to carry them (or worry about them getting separated; I shudder with horror at the mere thought), but I grasped onto Chris' belt-loop because I was worried I would get separated!  We were shoulder-to-shoulder with a mass of humanity.  The temperature was in the upper 90s (at 10 PM).  It was all very INTENSE to this country bumpkin.  Because, HELP!, claustrophobia is a big struggle for me.  While we were in the crowd, I was in mild panic mode, trying not to FLIP OUT on Chris and the 50,000 people jammed into a one-block radius who were immediately around us, all of us breathing the same heavy, humid air and stepping on the backs of each other's shoes.  I started to do LaMaze breathing while praying that nothing would trigger a stampede among the crowd.

We cut diagonally through a less-crowded park.  As we stopped to gather our wits and take a deep breath of air that no one in our immediate vicinity had recently exhaled, I just happened to look to the left.

And saw a pretty important house.

It was cool.  In a very hot way.